Sitting vs. Standing

I also have a question in regard to sitting vs. standing in the rehearsal. I am about to start rehearsing a choir three times a week for fifty minutes each rehearsal. I am partial to standing because I feel it facilitates proper vocal production better, however others prefer sitting. I was wondering if any of you had a take on it, and if so why?

All 5 traditional choirs (and the 3 vocal jazz ensembles, for that matter) at Central Washington University stand for their various rehearsal periods (most are 50 minutes, but the Men's choir is 80 minutes and once a week the Chamber Choir is 90 minutes). Our ensembles range from 25 - 150 singers and we have 9 sections of 4 step Wenger risers in the room. We also have chairs in stacks at the side of the room for guest choirs stopping by, for other classes which use the choir room, or for the days where we listen to recordings and fill out evaluations on them - but the singers stand for 95% of the rehearsals.

You might find it interesting that in the choral methods course I'm teaching this summer, we just covered arranging your choir . . . one of my students said - I couldn't imagine having my singers sit while singing - it just doesn't seem like you could sing sitting down. I told her there were many schools where the choir rarely stands (I've taught in a few). She was very surprised.

So, since you're getting strong recommendations on either side of this issue - my 2 cents is whatever you train them to do, they'll do. Having had it both ways - I think I like standing better - it's less hassle setting up, you can move during rehearsal much more quickly to a new arrangement, and your singers get used to the sound more as it will be in the concert. You can always let anyone with back problems, weight problems, or other physically limiting conditions sit on a stools or chairs in front of the risers. . .